Equine Therapy

Can grooming and riding horses foster recovery from mental illness? According to a recent article published in the Psychiatric Times, the answer is “yes.”

Learning a new skill—horsemanship—enhances patients’ confidence in their ability to tackle new projects, and leads to improved self-esteem.

Psynergy's Equine Therapy program combines the proven science of using horses to facilitate therapy with the world’s oldest and most intuitive breed of horse – the Arabian. At Psynergy, we are committed to incorporate the best research and most effective methods of Equine-Facilitated Psychotherapy (EFP). Observational findings from top medical professionals indicate the benefits of equine therapy include increased confidence, self-efficacy, improved communication, restoration of trust, anxiety reduction, decreased isolation, impulse modulation, amended social skills, boundaries, and more.

A positive relationship with a horse is often a first, safe step toward practicing the social skills needed build relationships with people. Healing takes place as patients discover that riding occurs within the context of a respectful relationship between a rider and a horse.

The bottom line? With a long background in Arabian horses, Psynergy Programs is wholly committed to incorporate the most effective methods of EFP, using the long-established relationship between the horse and mankind to improve the lives of the individuals we serve.

“I used to be quite the rambunctious one when I first got here - you know, wrestling with people, running around antagonizing people. And then I got into Equine and started going twice a week, and it was really helpful to me. When we first go there we have a small discussion about what we’re working on and what our goal is and how being with the horses is going to help us. We groom the horses - we brush them, clean their feet, and then you choose if you want to ride or walk the horse. On my first day with a little bit of hesitation I was able to ride the horse and face my fear. Which was awesome!

It’s been very beneficial because when I first got here there were so many things I needed to improve on. One of them was trust. Once I started going to Equine I started trusting staff and learning how to communicate. I realized that when I am with animals I am very self-confident in what I do and I don’t ever second-guess myself. And I realized that if I practice what I practice with the horses maybe I can apply that here. So I’ve become very self-confident here as well. Eventually I just started improving because working with animals is a very therapeutic experience for me. It’s helped me achieve and grow. Now that I am more stable people are always telling me: ‘You’ve come a long way, you’ve done amazing things, keep it up!’”

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Psynergy Programs, Inc. is committed to creating innovative options for individuals to move out of locked settings and into successful community living. Together Achieving More is our guiding principle. We operate with the shared belief that recovery happens when a cohesive set of programs and services are available to support and sustain the recovery process. Our organization was founded in 2004. Today, we have three California locations, in Morgan Hill, Greenfield and Sacramento.